Are people good or evil?

[koan]

Do you believe that people are essentially good or essentially evil, and why?

I believe people are essentially good. That is why we have a conscience. If we were evil then our conscience wouldn't weigh on us so heavily when we do hurtful things or see others being hurt.

[john8pies]

I suppose MOST people are essentially good; otherwise nobody would go to the shops or work or anything because they`d be killed or their house robbed each time. some people seem to be intrinsically BAD though (child murderers, etc) and some people, I suppose, are a bit of both, more one than another, or may change according to circumstances?

[spot]

Koan, can't you reverse that sentence and find an equivalent truth from the other side? It would be something like:

' I believe people are essentially bad. That is why we can't behave well permanently however hard we try. If we were good then each next act would also be good, and yet we find that the harder we try to stay that way, the greater the pressure that builds in us to relapse into evil behavior. ' I've tried to stay close in intensity to your original statement.

In other threads, I've seen people argue that there are buffers at the end of the scale of good and evil, and that some people have existed solely up against one or other - the people I'd refer to as demonized, who can't be discussed because nobody can say any good of their thoughts, intentions or acts. (People tend not to talk about absolutely good people, for some reason, but they do talk of absolutely evil people. Strange.)

It occurs to me, though it may not be altogether relevant, that I'd rather be the beggar starving outside the gate of the rich man, watching the banquet, than the rich man at the feast. The beggar has far more opportunity for doing good than the rich man with his diversions and terrors.

I can give you a paragraph (you can find the rest if you google on a bit of it) worded far more eloquently than I could manage myself, which introduces a few additional thoughts to the thread:

' Looked at from a relative standpoint, this world of appearance is a bleak place, and as such it often drives us to despair. The seers, with their larger knowledge, tell us otherwise. Once we become conscious, even dimly, of the Atman, the Reality within us, the world takes on a very different aspect. It is no longer a court of justice, but a kind of gymnasium. Good and evil, pain and pleasure, still exist, but they seem more like the ropes and vaulting-horses and parallel bars which can be used to make our bodies strong. Maya is no longer an endlessly revolving wheel of pain and pleasure, but a ladder which can be climbed to consciousness of the Reality. From this standpoint, fortune and misfortune are both "mercies"-that is to say, opportunities. Every experience offers us the chance of making a constructive reaction to it-a reaction which helps to break some chain of our bondage to Maya and bring us that much nearer to spiritual freedom. '

[Lon]

Originally Posted by koan

Do you believe that people are essentially good or essentially evil, and why?

I believe people are essentially good. That is why we have a conscience. If we were evil then our conscience wouldn't weigh on us so heavily when we do hurtful things or see others being hurt.

What makes you think that everyone has a conscience Koan?

[twosteaks]

I believe most people to be good but greedy in life,then depending on the level of greed determains a level of evil.
When you say evil it suggests unthinkable act of cruelty, why not say "good or bad"!
cheers

[Clint]

Originally Posted by koan

Do you believe that people are essentially good or essentially evil, and why?

I believe people are essentially good. That is why we have a conscience. If we were evil then our conscience wouldn't weigh on us so heavily when we do hurtful things or see others being hurt.

Lord of the Flies. I think there is good and evil in each of us. We choose to be good or evil. If we aren't taught to be good there is a good chance we will do what is evil or do good for with evil intent. It is the side that we feed the most, that wins. If we feed only the evil side it will smother the concience. It is the choice between good and evil that we live for. If not for that choice, what would life be about?

[Hawke]

"If you only knew the POWER of the Dark Side!"

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

And yes, I believe there's a bit of good and evil inside all of us.

[koan]

I agree that everyone has the equal capability to do good or evil but the innate quality of the soul is good. I've never met an evil baby. If the "dark side" is ego and we do "evil" things at moments of powerlessness or greed then our ultimate mission is to overcome these moments and atone for the mistakes we have made. Of course this requires belief that the ego is representative of what we consider to be the self and that there is something more to humans than ego and our bodies.

[capt_buzzard]

There are some very evil people and some very good people in this world.

[spot]

Originally Posted by capt_buzzard

There are some very evil people and some very good people in this world.

Would you like to look at http://www.robertniles.com/stats/stdev.shtml and say whether that's the sort of distribution you're referring to, Captain? If not, how would you see it instead?